The Quebec provincial government will boostits labour-based film production tax credit from 11% to 20%, following asimilar move in Ontario before Christmas.

Ontario increased its production servicescredit from 11% to 18% and its credit for local production from 20% to 30%.Production service providers in British Columbia are calling on theirprovincial government to follow suit.

The rising value of the Canadian dollar andincreasing competition from US and international locations has brought woeacross the Canadian production industry, where off-shore productions, mostly USfinanced, account for the majority of the total film spend.

In 2003, of the $896m (C$1.1bn) spent onfeature production in Canada in 2003, $686m (C$842m) or 76% wasforeign-financed.

Meanwhile,Mayor Bloomberg signed New York's 5% tax credit for film and TV shoots into lawthis week. GreeneStreet Films said its Joby Harold feature Awake will shoot inNew York as a direct result; it had previously scouted locations in Dublin andLondon.